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Ex-Rabobank trader sued in Singapore for hiding Libor rig probe

Thu, Mar 19, 2015 - 11:11 AM

[SINGAPORE] Former Rabobank Groep trader Tetsuya Motomura was sued by a Singapore hedge fund that hired him as chief investment officer and claims he deliberately concealed that he was being probed for rigging benchmark interest rates.

Omae Capital Management Pte is seeking S$3.75 million from Motomura, who told the firm about six months after it started operations that he had been charged in the US, according to a lawsuit filed in October. Motomura's lawyer asked the Singapore High Court last week to dismiss the suit as it hadn't been served properly.

Motomura resigned from Omae Capital after being charged in January 2014 and the firm said it was forced to close as a result of his misrepresentation. Motomura's lawyer Walter Ferix said on Thursday he's taking instructions on the case and declined to comment further.

Masao Omae, a former Barclays Plc Asia head of yen trading who founded Omae Capital, will consider further fund management plans following the conclusion of the lawsuit, according to his lawyer Arvind Daas Naaidu.

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Motomura and other traders conspired in a five-year scheme to manipulate Libor rates by making false submissions for the benefit of their trading positions, according to the US criminal charges. His US case is pending.

Rabobank agreed to pay US$1.1 billion in October 2013 to settle investigations in the US, UK and the Netherlands into its involvement in manipulating Libor and related benchmark interest rates. Libor is used to determine the value of more than US$300 trillion of securities, including interest rate swaps, mortgages and student loans.